I was shaped by popular culture through surrounding people, radio, television and World Wide Web.
Korean community was one way to get to know the popular culture in America. When my husband and I first came to America, we were guided to a Korean church in Prince George’s county. After six days of work, a pleasant place to go was the church. It does not matter how much we were tired. Singing, eating and communication were the main aspects that I liked to go. My husband and I joined the choir. I was interested to practice songs Saturdays and Sundays. The members became our friends and shared our lives. Also, we ate lunch in Korean food every Sunday. Therefore, I was influenced in Korean church community in early American life.
Radio was a way to get popular culture in America. While I was driving on the way, I could listen to the Family radio channel. It was a good source to train my ears to listen in English. I’ve also come to listen to what my children listen to such as pop, hip hop, and r n b. Although I do not fully understand what the lyrics mean, I can understand why these young adults listen to popular music.
Television was a media that transmitted the popular culture. Was the Full House in Fox channel in 1980s? The three men characters as roommates, Danny’s three daughters and related neighbors impressed me. Through the TV, I could see part of American families’ lives. The way they talked, and the way they ate, and the way they interacted in their daily lives. In the new land, when my husband and I did not have any relatives here, the TV program was a good source to look at them. One noticeable thing was the young daughters’ mother was not there. While these characters are fictional, each episode can almost emulate life experiences that many people go through on a daily basis. While these shows such as Full House are entertaining there are some moral or lesson that can be learned through every view. The TV show reflected some families in America.
Exchange e-mail and surf web-site are revolution to me. While I was taking computer literature, I was fairly new to the internet and the email. I did not know how easy it is now to send letters to my family back in Korea. It saves money and time, and email also allowed real time communications. It was made my relationship with my professors stronger. Whenever I had a question or any comments, I would email my professor and my professor would email me back at her convenience. Email has changed the way I communicate to colleagues, friends and family.
It's very interesting and good to think of immigrant communities as a supportive way of helping introduce people to the larger culture while also preserving that community's culture. I have a lot of experience learning about issues surrounding this in Denmark, where immigrant communities are seen as very hostile to larger culture and efforts are underway to break them up.
ReplyDeleteI think this a great example of how someone can come from a different country and learn about a culture. There are some many different things one can learn from the radio and the television. From television a person can see what an idolized family in America looks like, and then see the real thing and understand why people watch television in the hope that some day their lives will be like the lives of the people on TV.
ReplyDeleteI like how you have an adults view of pop culture. Sometimes as 20-somethings, it's hard to understand why your parents or elders don't enjoy your pop hip hop and r&b tunes. I think it was neat how you've trained yourself to listen to English through mediums like tv and radio while still participating in your Korean rituals of food, music, and religion.
ReplyDeleteI bet listening to the radio is a great way to start learning the language and culture of where you are living. I am having the hardest time in my french class and I am guessing if I were to submerge myself in France, as you did here, it would make the learning experience so much richer and flow at an easier pace. I like that you mentioned Full House because I used to watch this show all the time. I am an only child so I watched these shows with large families as way to gain better insight into that part of family that was unknown to me.
ReplyDeleteFull house is a great example of an ideal perspective in American culture. It’s really interesting how you engrossed yourself in different areas of American culture to better understand it. My cousin worked at Wendy’s for a long time and she became friends with a lot of Spanish speaking individuals she became very interested in the culture and the language and since non of them spoke English she would sometimes talk to them for hours on the phone to try and understand what they were saying as a result she became bilingual. She said that hearing it all the time helped a great deal, so listening to the radio and t.v. was a great way to start adjusting to the culture as well as the language.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very unique perspective of popular American culture since you didn't grow up in America. I think it's really interesting that even though your background is of the Korean culture, you still become immersed in shows such as Full House. It just shows how strong these popular icons are in American society and how someone who is new to America can even use these icons to learn.
ReplyDeleteI was once a fan of Full House, and actually still do watch it occasionally as a means of getting away from the drainage of other activities and stress. I was teased for being on love with Michelle, the little girl who is played by the Olsen twins. Although it may not seem obvious in the beginning, television shows such as this and many others do present a view that shows how families are structured and the customary traditions and themes of American culture. And this must be ever more apparent for someone coming from a different country. It also shows struggles that can develop and how people cope through the loss of family members and friends, and that people come together to help each other out at those times.
ReplyDeleteI feel like having grown up in America we take for granted and don't truly understand popular culture around us because its what we are used to. For you I'm sure it was a lot easier to take notice of these things having come from a different culture. Listening to the radio is a great way to learn a language and also opens up many avenues for understanding what popular culture is affecting the people around you the most.
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